No move

Kristan reported that she won't be moving to Rehab today. Maybe tomorrow. Guess I'll learn more when I see her tonight. It's looking like a few days of snowflakes ahead... Good thing my "flying" appointment on Friday is in the simulator!

Boot in progress

Kristan says that Don from Hangar Orthotics is at the hospital now. If he succeeds in setting her up with a protective boot for her left foot, she may be enroute to the Cherrelyn rehab center this evening!

Mary Pat

They had a really nice funeral service for our neighbor Mary Pat Hamrick today. She was a really sweet lady. Mandy thought she was cool, too.

Dog visits

Mandy was very happy to be with her pal K again, fourth evening in a row last night. Now I'm scarfing down a plate of turkey hash and other goodies, so we can rush off and meet with K for another evening.

MSL Launched!

We launched AV-028 this morning, an Atlas V carrying the MSL (Mars Science Laboratory) payload, from Cape Canaveral! See SpaceFlightNow for the story!

Busy Day

Mandy and I walked to meet Freddie at Blueberry's for breakfast and coffee. Raced off to the Airport, so I could poke holes in the clouds with a really broken airplane (on purpose, in the simulator! :-). Raced home, to get Jen's help putting up the Christmas lights in front. Cooked up some turkey hash for dinner. Now hurrying to get to bed early, so I can sleep awhile, before I race into work at midnight, and try to get MSL launched! K says they're still trying to figure out how to get her discharged to rehab as soon as possible. She's apparently not eating enough, hence is having repeated low blood glucose episodes. So far, they're catching them before they get serious.

More alert

She seems more alert lately, than she's been in awhile, and the pain seems more under control. I helped her transfer from chair to bed again tonight. Lifted and carried her, really.

Stuck in hospital

They've been trying to get Kristan out of St Joseph hospital, and over to the Cherrelyn rehab facility today, but the non-weight-bearing status of her left foot has them all stymied. Her old "crow" boot is completely the wrong shape inside, for the current state of her left foot, and would damage it. With the holiday coming on, there's nobody available to refit it before Monday. So, she may be stuck waiting in the hospital, until Monday or Tuesday. Now she's worrying that there won't be any beds available at the rehab facility by then. Heavy sigh. It looks like Mandy and I'll be visiting her at the hospital again tonight.

BG stabilizing

K appears to have recovered from the insulin overdose she got on Monday night. They didn't watch her blood glucose (BG) level as closely as I asked them to, so she did have a low BG that night, and it's been rebounding up and down for the past day, as they try to get it back under control. They were doing so well, too, way better than we've achieved at home.

Cherrelyn?

Ken and Freddie are our Secret Angels. They went to visit Cherrelyn Healthcare Center yesterday, only a couple miles from our house, to evaluate it as a possible rehab facility for Kristan. They said it looked, felt, and even smelled, like a good place. Today I got a call from them, saying the hospital had contacted them about transferring Kristan there. We talked a little, and they're going to try to resolve any possible complications, such as them not having dialysis available there. Until K can self-transfer between chairs, her usual dialysis place won't take her back.

Ready to go... where?

She seemed to be having less pain, or maybe just handling it better, tonight. She has the medical OK to be discharged from hospital. One doc said earlier, that she'll "be home for Thanksgiving" which of course was a scary thought, considering that she can't get around yet. They're looking for a space at a rehab facility that also has dialysis, which is far more rare. And KP-Ortho wants her remaining foot evaluated with her special "CROW" boot I brought in tonight from home, before anyone tries to move her. The basic problem is her remaining foot hasn't healed from the previous surgery, and it already has new wounds on it, from favoring the right foot the past month. Yet the PT folks want her putting her full weight on it, when getting around. Imagine hopping around on an ulcerated foot. Makes me queasy, just thinking about it.

A little better

They removed the PCA (on demand) pain med IV today. She's back to the occasional pain pill and other meds. I think this is a sign that she's doing better. They let us bring in a special guest tonight! I escorted Mandy in from the car, and she cuddled with K the whole time I was there.

Nice

Simple pleasure: Not having 1/8 inch of road grit on the car, when trying to close the hatch.

Maybe a little better?

K is still in a lot of pain, but they're working with her to try to manage it. She was out of bed, sitting on one chair, with her legs on another, when we got there to visit this afternoon. She seemed to be doing a little better overall, in between the off-the-chart shooting pains.

Climbing back on the horse

Or, how to get back into flying, after four years away:

FAA Class II Medical - Done!
Familiarization flight with instructor - Done!
General Currency (3 takeoffs and landings in 90 days) - Done!
Night currency (3 night landings in 90 days) - Done!
Biennial Flight Review (BFR - Every 24 months) - Done!
Flying Club checkout (Every 12 months) - Done!
... now I'm good to go flying VFR with passengers!
Instrument Proficiency Check (IPC - Every 6 months)
... and here I'll be able to punch holes in the clouds!
Taildragger currency (3 T/O & full stop ldg in taildragger)
... and here I'll be able to take the Citabria for a spin!

Restless & Pain

The nurse says K has been restless (can't find a comfortable position), and is still using the pain med pump, but otherwise had an ok night.

The Pits

Our neighbor Ken took K to her Ortho appointment yesterday, and it quickly turned into a hospital admission. Her right foot looked really bad, with multiple deep ulcers threatening the leg, and no practical surgical approach. This afternoon, after we agonized all day about options that weren't really there, they amputated her foot and leg to just below the knee. She's back in her hospital room, miserable, in a lot of pain, can't get comfortable, emotionally at bottom. She said her remaining leg misses her other leg, somewhere out there. I think my value tonight will be pushing the pain med dispenser button every 8 minutes, when it lights up to show that another tiny dose is available.

It's 11/11/11 and Veteran's Day!

Thanks to Dad, Mom, Uncle Bill, all our veteran friends, and all other vets out there, for everything you've done to help keep this country safe, free, and something to be proud of.

Woo Hoo!

I'm now the proud holder of a fresh new Class II FAA medical!!! Next step is to contact Aspen Flying Club, and start scheduling refresher flights, the goal being to get all my currency requirements in order. Let's see, we're talking about the Biennial Flight Review, Club Annual Checkout, Instrument Proficiency Check, then the necessary takeoffs and landings to satisfy the Day, Night, and Taildragger currency requirements. Sounds like fun to me!

Facebook Safety

Here's an interesting page about Facebook Safety, if anyone is interested. I see it's an HTTPS protocol which is secure-encrypted. That might mean you have to login to see it. Since I was already logged in, I can't tell. Let me know if you have troubles reading it, and maybe I can copy/paste some of it here.

Snow

Another wave of snow just hit the Denver area. I think we got more down here. Looks like about six inches of really heavy wet stuff, that I just had to shovel off the driveway.